Fiery fruit

Sunday

The squid has its ink. The skunk has its stink. And the chile has its heat.

But the very defense mechanism that chiles employ to keep predators at bay is what attracts humans. It's the heat, baby.

The squid has its ink. The skunk has its stink. And the chile has its heat.

But the very defense mechanism that chiles employ to keep predators at bay is what attracts humans.

It's the heat, baby.

The mouth-searing, tongue-in-flames torture that we crave.

That heat is created by capsaicin, an alkaloid that, ironically, also is used to relieve joint pain.

Why so hot?

"It's the plant's way to protect from mammals eating the fruit," said Paul Bosland, a New Mexico State University horticulture professor who has dedicated his life to studying the science of chile peppers.

Why keep mammals at bay? They want the vitamin A that the plants provide.

The mammalian digestive system destroys the seeds, ending any hope of dispersal.

Birds, however, don't have pain receptors for peppers. And their digestive systems leave the seeds alone. They also fly far and wide, spreading the seeds as they go.

Chile peppers are native to South America, but were carried north by birds.

"Birds are the wild dispersal agent," said Danise Coon, assistant director of the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State.

But there is one mammal that has aided the pepper's success - man.

Smithsonian researchers a few years ago reported that they found evidence that chiles were cultivated and traded as early as 6,000 years ago. Eventually, European explorers took them on their ships and spread them the world over.

"It must have been a brave human that bit into the first chile and said, 'I want to eat this,' " Bosland said.

And since then, interest in peppers has grown. A lot.

"What I found out is we had a lot of people asking chile questions," Bosland said.

In fact, so many peppered him with questions that it began to interfere with his research and teaching. So, the institute was born in 1992.

New Mexico produces about 80 percent of the nation's chile peppers, making New Mexico State a natural to house such an institute, Bosland said. The university also has a chile breeding and genetics program.

About 25 faculty members research the best soils for chiles and techniques for creating disease-resistant peppers.

Researchers around the world are interested in the power of chiles, their evolutionary history and how they were cultivated.

For example, University of Washington researchers recently reported that chile peppers also use their heat to fend off a fungus spread by insects.

And when chile peppers become stressed, they become hotter, a natural defense to prevent animals from eating them, Coon said.

If you are a chile head, you know all about the Scoville units used to measure that heat. They're named after Wilbur Scoville, an American chemist who created the scale in 1912 while working for the Parke-Davis pharmaceutical company. The units of hotness are based on how much sugar water you need to dilute the chiles until you feel no heat.

India's bhut jolokia pepper is considered the hottest, at 1 million Scoville units.

Beyond the heat and nutrition, chile peppers have a variety of tastes, Bosland said. "It's a fascinating crop. There are so many aspects to chile peppers."

But what about the heat? And why do we react the way we do?

Scientists say that capsaicin binds to receptors in the mouth that send a heat signal to the brain. It's the same signal the brain receives when you eat or drink something hot, like soup or coffee, Bosland said. "It fools your brain that it's hot."

For some, that rush, that high, is what they're looking for. You know, the pain and pleasure thing.

One person who understands this is John Hard, who runs CaJohn's Fiery Foods in Westerville. He sells some of the hottest sauces in the world. One sauce, Holy Jolokia, is considered one of the fieriest.

Hard is so interested in the research that a portion of sales from Holy Jolokia goes to fund the Chile Pepper Institute.

The best way to kill the burn? Milk is pretty good, as are most dairy products, according to the institute.

But who wants to ease that killer rush?

mferenchik@dispatch.com

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